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Monday, November 29, 2010

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I am so sorry I didn't get to wish you guys a Thanksgiving earlier. My brother and his family decided to come on Tuesday instead of Wednesday making things a little complicated... lol~ Whenever they come, they stay at my dad's place and I lose everything I own including the computer *sigh*. :X It's nice to finally have my computer!... wheee~ I hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving and went shopping on Black Friday!!! :)

Several weeks ago Sally Beauty had an online promotion (I mentioned things like this on my twitter so follow) and decided to take part in it... lol~ I heard good stuff about Out The Door top coat and I needed a new top coat since I finished my Seche Vite.

Product Review: INM Out The Door Fastin Drying Top Coat

Where can you purchase this: Sally Beauty, Sally Beauty website, online, anywhere they sell top coatsPrice: $4.99 at Sally Beauty with Beauty Club Card, without the card it is $5.49 for 15 mL/0.5 fl oz. (I got mine for 50 cents with the codes)

Made in USA

Description on the website: INM Out The Door Fast Drying Top Coat is America's #1 super fast drying top coat! Out The Door's long wearing, high gloss finish will not yellow. Use alone or over any polish to accelerate the drying time.Ingredients:

My thoughts: I was really excited to try this and hoped it dried as fast as Seche Vite. I am one of those people who cannot just sit there and wait for the nail polish to dry!... lol~ :X Whenever I use Seche Vite top coat, it dries within a minute. I can touch it and it has that dry feel. With Out The Door, I actually had to wait 5 minutes to have that dry feel. It dries fast, but not as fast as Seche Vite.

When it comes to gloss, it's not bad. I can see the shine but it's minimum compared to Seche Vite. I personally think Seche Vite makes everything really gloss. This has to do with personal taste, but both doesn't bother me. I think Out The Door will be better for matte nail polishes who wants a little gloss. If you want really glossy nails then I say go for Seche Vite... hehe~

Here's how the brush looks for Out The Door. I cannot remember if Seche Vite was thicker, thinner, or the same. :/ The brush is a typical size compared to other nail polishes, but it applies pretty quick. Since it's very liquidity when you apply it, it spread quickly. I like it quick the top coat is!... hehe~ :)

Pros:
* Dries quicker than most top coats; 5 minutes.
* Gives a minimum gloss/shine.
* It spreads quickly.
* It is thin not thick.
* Doesn't chip that easily.

Cons:
* Doesn't dry as quick as I wish.

Would I buy this again: Probably not because it dries too slow for my personality... lol~ :PRating: 4/5 Tobey's Paws

Speaking of nail polishes, I should show you my recent Orly nail polishes I have collected. I received two from the L.A. Beautylish event.

The first one I got from the swag bag was It's Not Rocket Science.

The second one I got from the vase on the table was Out Of This World.

I kept hearing the raves about this nail polish and I couldn't resist getting myself one... lol~

This is in Space Cadet. My friend and I went to a nail polish store in Chinatown and we got the last two... wheee~ It's such a unique, hot color. I definitely recommend this color!!! ;)

I had to take pictures of this nail polish on my nails to show how gorgeous it is!... hehe~ In certain angles, it is purple.

In certain angles, you see a metallic dark green. These are the two colors I could get with my camera, but there are more... hehe~

The last nail polish from Orly I got was through Seventeen magazine. You take the coupon either from the magazine or from their website to any Ulta stores. You have a chose between three Orly nail polishes.

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for three Orly nail polishes. I either got them free from an event I attended or a coupon. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Wow!!! I wasn't expecting this many people entering the giveaway. Thank you all for entering and I wish every one of you guys could have won, but I can only choose one winner... hehe~ There will always be a next time! :)

I had 212 entries and the number chosen through random number generator was number 10! Now for the winner *drum roll*....

The winner is Jannie!

Congrats Jannie and you have 48 hours to contact me with your e-mail address. My e-mail is aly_4realz (at) hotmail (dot) com. If you don't contact me within 48 hours, I will announce a new winner.

Thank you CSN Stores for sponsoring this giveaway! :)

I noticed in Korean variety shows they add Ketchup on certain foods. I don't know when this trend started or how it came upon, but it intrigued my curiosity... lol~ For that reason, I decided to try it on chicken on potatoes, carrots, and onions (dak do-ri-tang) version 2. Yup, version 2! I have version 1 posted. You should try both version to see which one you like!... hehe~ ;)

You don't have to do this part, but I did it because it's more healthier to eat. If it's frozen, I defrost it with water but you can use a microwave... hehe~ Once it's defrosted, I peel the skin off as much as I can. Then I boil it in water with ginger and garlic. I wait until the fat flow to the top. It takes about 10-15 minutes. I throw away the water and clean the chicken with water.

Step2:

You can use the same pot but make sure to clean it or use a new pot... hehe~ I put the chicken, chopped some potatoes, carrots, and onion.

I made the sauce while the chicken was boiling in Step 1. I added soy sauce, water, garlic salt, and sugar. The soy sauce and water ratio is about half and half. You add water to dilute the soy sauce. You don't want your chicken to be dark and salty in taste. Then you add sugar to sweeten the chicken. I usually taste the soy sauce and it seems good in my taste bud I know it's good enough... hehe~ :X Then at the end I add two spoonful of red pepper powder.

I dump the sauce into the pot... lol~ Then the stove onto high.

This picture doesn't represent my next step, but it's close enough... lol~ I learned through trial and error. As soon as you turn on the stove, add two spoonful of Ketchup. Don't wait towards the middle of cooking or the end. It helps in the beginning because it actually takes time for the Ketchup to be mixed into the chicken. If you do it in the middle or the end, you can taste the Ketchup which isn't the goal... lol~ :X You will cook about 30 minutes, and make sure to go back and mix it with a spoon every 5 minutes.

Here's the end product, but this isn't a good representation either... lol~ It will look for red if you mix the Ketchup in the beginning. ;)

Speaking of food, I thought I would upload a cake my brother bought... hehe~

If you are ever in this area, you need to try their cakes. It's the bomb!!!

Growing up, I was never into Hello Kitty. I don't know what happened because I love Hello Kitty now!... lol~ :/ My favorite and even now is Pochacco, but I'm so digging Hello Kitty nowadays. I bought two recently. :X

I bought this sticker from Target. It's in their $1 section.

I got this from Burlington Coat Factory. It's so adorable!... wheee~ :)

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for the gift certificate to CSN Stores. They sponsored the giveaway and I am not getting paid to do the giveaway. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Wet n Wild ColorIcon holiday palettes has been the biggest thing at the moment. I know people who have driven to different drugstores looking for them. If you find them, don't think twice and grab them while you can... hehe~ ;)

I grabbed two out of the four; Sugar Plum Fairy and Night Elf. I will talk about Sugar Plum Fairy in another post... lol~ ;)

Night Elf is an unique palette because it has all random colors. I am very drawn to the middle color in the left column... lol~ Yes, I can hear couple of you say typical Aly color. :P

Here's the swatch of Night Elf. The top row is the left column and the bottom is the right. The bottom of the left column, top right on the swatch, people compared it to MAC eyeshadow in Club. Without a doubt after swatching the colors, I agreed until I used it on my eyes. I have MAC eyeshadow in Club and it's more brown on the eyes. I had to swatch the colors to see if it's a dupe.

The left one is from the Night Elf palette and the right one is MAC eyeshadow in Club. The one from Night Elf is more on the orange side or at least on my eyes... hehe~ MAC eyeshadow in Club is more on the brown side. I do NOT think they're a dupe. :P

The holiday palette comes with a mini-eyeliner pencil. The regular collection of ColorIcon doesn't come with one so it's a plus/freebie I guess you can say... hehe~

Here's a swatch of the eyeliner. I don't know if you can see the silver sparkles, but it is there. You can't really see the silver sparkles on the eyes unless you look really close up. Who will look that close to your eyes eh?... lol~ :P

This is how the eyeliner looks after rubbing it hard couple of times. The eyeliner is definitely not waterproof and it smudges, but overall it's not a bad eyeliner. It doesn't snug on your skin which is a good thing I think!... hehe~ I apply the eyeliner after I curl my lashes so the color won't smudge.

One thing bad about the palette is that the name of the palette is only on the box. I had to cut the name out and tape it on the back or else I will forget what the name is. Do you see it on the top?... lol~ :P

Here's the ingredients for the people who have certain allergies. The top one is the eyeshadow and the bottom one is the eyeliner.

With this palette, I came out with two looks... hehe~ They're nothing special and I haven't done an eye look in ages!Look #1:

I used all the colors on the left column, as well as, the eyeliner pencil.

Look #2:

I used all the colors on the right column, top color on the left column, and the eyeliner pencil.

If you're scared of red like me, this might be an option... lol~ :P

Couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to do a makeover for a student I tutor. She needed to wear a lot of eyeliner, mascara, bright blush, and red lipstick for her choir performance.

Unfortunately, we were short in time I forgot to take a before picture. :/ Here's the after picture. I also did her hair. Her teacher wanted bangs out of the face. The hardest to do was the eyeliner and concealer. Since she's a mono-lid and I'm not, I never expected the eyeliner had to be this thick to show... hehe~ I also had to use a lot of concealer to hide her pimples. I think I did a decent job... lol~ :X

I received an e-mail and thought I would pass along. SkinCareRx is having a 25% off Friends and Family until December 31, 2010. Use the code "FF25." If you haven't visited SkinCareRx, you are definitely missing out! They carry lines from SkinMedica, Kinerase, to M.D. Forte.

Monday, November 15, 2010

This past weekend Rock & Republic had their sample sale, Friday to Sunday. I didn't mention it on here but if you follow my twitter, you would have known about this event... hehe~ I decided at last minute to go on Friday. Let me tell you how insane that event was! The line to buy your things took more than 2 hours!!! I stood in line for 2.5 hours... wahhh~ :( Here's what I got...

I got two blushes and three eyeshadows. I took this picture during natural light so you can see the boxes... hehe~

One thing I found bad about the sample sale is that they had combo sets, and not singles where you get to choose the items you want. :/ For that reason, I decided to only buy one blush set. Two of the blushes were sold out so I had no clue what they were. All the combos only had one blush color I liked and the other I didn't care for... hehe~ For that reason, I took the best one which was the Kinky/Bedroom set.

This blush is in Kinky. It's a gorgeous, matte, hot pink color. I've been wanting this for a long time so I was happy to finally get it!... wheee~

The employees searched and couldn't find Bedroom. They gave me the opportunity to either get the tester Bedroom or the two blushes that was alone (their partners in the combo were sold out). :/ I didn't want any of them... lol~ :X I got really lucky because they decided to go through all their blushes and realized Call Me was sold out. I asked them if I can get Call Me tester blush as a combo with the Kinky. They said yes... yippie~ I know you're thinking why would I get the tester blush eh!?!? I usually wouldn't take the tester but they make you swatch the items with eyeshadow sponges. I didn't think it would be disgusting since people had to use the sponges. :/ Plus, it looks pretty new.

This is in Call Me. It's a pretty peachy with gold specks. Since it was a tester, they didn't have the box. It's all good because I don't need a box... hehe~

Here's a swatch of the blushes. The left one is Call Me and the right one is Kinky.

If you're wondering what I think about these blushes, I love them!!! I also did a review on another R&R blush in Tease some time ago. You should check out the swatch, as well as, my review... hehe~ ;) R&R blushes are so much better than MAC blushes in my opinion... hehe~ :X That's how much I love R&R blushes!!! :)

The blushes weren't the only thing I got. I've been wanting to try their eyeshadows. Again they had combos which suckage in my opinion... lol~ :X Most of the combos I only like had one eyeshadow out of three that caught my attention. The one I ended up getting had two out of the three I like. Let me tell you I changed my mind when I swatched all the eyeshadows at home... hehe~ I ended up liking all three!... wheee~ PLEASE don't be in shocked to see NOT my typical colors!... hehe~ :P

This is in Ambition. Yes, it's my typical color and that's why I didn't like it at first... hehe~ :P When I swatched it over there, it looked gold to me. When I swatched it at home and under the sun, I was shocked to see gold with blue specks. I have never seen an eyeshadow like this before!

This is in Brink. It's a blue but in certain angles you see green or gold specks. Another unique color which I love!!! :)

The last eyeshadow is in Lawsuit. It's a brown with blue and in certain angle green specks. Another unique color!!! :)

Here are the swatches of the eyeshadows. From the left is Ambition, middle is Brink, and the right one is Lawsuit.

These eyeshadows feel like silk when you touch them. I am in love with them!... hehe~

Now for my Forever 21 haul...

I fell in love with this angel wings earrings! The top two rows have white crystals but it's hard to see in the picture... hehe~

I thought this earring was cute... hehe~ It's a leaf with three rows of white crystals and black dangling gem.

This is an owl ring. It's gold with tons of white crystals... hehe~

I was contacted by Violet from Skin Store. She thought I would be interested in passing along this giveaway to my readers. I thought it wouldn't hurt... hehe~ The website is giving away 23 Clarisonic Opals ($245), one a day, which started on November 5th. Here's the entry form and the rule for the giveaway. Good luck!

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.